Daddy Darkest
Doctors of Darkness, Book #1
By Ellery A. Kane
ISBN# 9780692880968
Author’s Website: http://ellerykane.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Samantha Bronwyn leads a normal, albeit boring life in a small town in Texas, where she lives with her mom. She never knew her dad since he died when she was a baby. Sam’s a basketball wiz on the court and will be heading to Baylor soon.
Her best friend, Ginny, has talked her into going on a girls trip to San Francisco before they head off to college. A trip that Sam’s mom was against. Shortly after getting to San Francisco Sam wishes she had listened to her mom as a nightmare unfolds before her. Ginny went into the bathroom at the airport and disappeared. Her phone was found in the trash with a message to Sam’s mom displayed to ‘come find me’. Ginny was wearing Sam’s Letterman jacket (with Sam’s name on the back) and they soon realize that the kidnapper had intended to grab Sam instead!
Sam is alone in a strange town while trying to find answers and running into trouble at every turn. She knows Ginny is quickly running out of time with an escaped serial killer, Clive ‘Cutthroat’ Cullen on the loose and he’s the most likely suspect for the abduction. Sam does find an unexpected ally in Levi, who sat next to the girls on the plane. But can he be trusted? He did carry a gun on the plane after all.
Sam’s mom is making her way to San Francisco, but she is acting strange. What do you do when everything you’ve ever known about your life turns out to be a lie? And when the sins of your parents truly do come to haunt you …
I actually really enjoyed this book! I liked it a lot better than I was expecting to as it sucked me in from the very beginning. I do love an exciting mystery and this one kept me on the edge of my seat. I liked that I didn’t know who to trust. Is Levi a good guy or will he lead Sam to those that want to do her harm? Although I quickly, fell in love with him and his humor, I would have been devastated if he’d been a bad guy!
“Levi didn’t seem surprised by my accusation. “I guess that bedsheet wasn’t as soundproof as I thought.”
I also actually liked the flashbacks to Claire’s past as the truth was revealed to us bit by bit. I enjoyed watching the interactions between her and Clive and how things developed. Clive was definitely a charmer and you could see how he reeled women in to do exactly what he wanted! I was definitely rooting for him and desperately wanted to see him be redeemed in this book! I do love my bad boys! But Claire was a bit nuts herself and kind of a slut so maybe they were meant to be … crazy does attract crazy.
The timing of reading this book couldn’t have been better. My oldest daughter is getting ready to start college this year and we’re making all those plans now. She has fallen in love with her psychology class in her senior year of high school and has decided to major in psychology in college. She absolutely loved doing the case studies and criminal profiles of known serial killers so this book made me think of her. I have already recommended the book to her. I think Kane’s background in forensic psychology shines through in her writing and makes this book even more interesting and it has a ‘real’ feel to it. I think this series on serial killers could be rather fun.
My only complaint about this book is that the story doesn’t feel complete to me and I saw that the next book is about completely different characters. It feels like there should be another book with these characters because there is more story to tell. The relationship between Levi and Sam has just begun, not to mention I would love to see more of Clive and Claire as their story has a lot of potential as well. I so want to see their happily ever after. Besides, Clive needs to meet his daughter!
I absolutely loved this book and hope to get my hands on the next book, The Hanging Tree once it’s released! If you love dark and slightly twisted psychological thrillers, you should definitely give this series a try!
